VCA Animal Hospitals, a global leader in comprehensive veterinary services and part of Mars Veterinary Health, has announced the appointment of Patty Wu as president effective this month. Wu succeeds Todd Lavender, DVM, who, after 20 years at VCA, becomes chief transformation officer at Mars Veterinary Health.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Dr Lavender for many years, and throughout this time, he has encouraged our teams to lead in medical quality, spread the joy of our profession, and innovate for our clients,” said Doug Drew, president, Mars Veterinary Health, in a press statement.
“As chief transformation officer, Todd will sharpen our future focus across our network, continuing to do more today to improve the experience of pet ownership and the experience of those caring for pets tomorrow.”
Drew continued: “I’m thrilled to welcome Patty to VCA and the Mars Veterinary Health family. As an accomplished senior executive with more than 20 years of experience leading and growing CPG (consumer packaged goods), omni retail, and direct-to-consumer businesses in the U.S., Canada, China and Asia Pacific, Patty believes exceptional client and patient outcomes grow from a strong associate and client experience.”
Wu comes with a track record of strong execution and consistent focus on the associate and client experience across categories ranging from health and wellness to baby and child care, and personal care. She has held senior roles at companies like Bed, Bath & Beyond, where she served as executive vice-president and brand president for buybuy BABY, as well as The Honest Company, The Clorox Company, Walmart, Mattel, and Beautycounter.
Wu said, “Over the past few years, VCA has expanded access to care, experienced amazing growth, and stayed true to an associate-first, pet-centric culture. I am excited and honoured to join an organization with such clarity of mission and purpose.”
As chief transformation officer, Dr Lavender will lead programmes designed to increase access to care and inspire the next generation of veterinary professionals. Reflecting on his work at VCA, he said, “We are serious about our obligation of taking care of the future of veterinary medicine. We have expanded access to care across the U.S., and to Canada and Brazil, strengthened the associate experience and continued to scale the highest-quality medicine for our patients. Patty is joining a network of hometown hospitals that puts patient outcomes, compassion and client experience at the centre of everything we do. We welcome Patty to VCA.”
VCA Animal Hospitals is a family of hometown animal hospitals determined to make a positive impact on pets, people, and communities. From general practice to emergency and specialty care, VCA delivers world-class medicine to more than four million pets each year, investing in cutting-edge tools, training and technology that enable its associates to lead the industry. Among the network’s talented 35,000 associates are nearly 7,000 veterinarians—including 430 who are board-certified specialists—nearly 4,000 credentialed veterinary technicians, and more than 10,000 veterinary assistants—all dedicated to giving pets the very best in medical care.
Source: PR Newswire
